


Joey Drew Studios, 1942

by pineappleoracle



Series: Inky Legacy AU [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: (except no slurs are used), (the racists in this are some cops), Gen, Historically accurate racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21531547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineappleoracle/pseuds/pineappleoracle
Summary: Anybody fancy a historically accurate fic about what my version of Joey Drew thinks about racism and stuff like that?Many thanks and much love to the super smart LemonBurnt who helped me with all the details because I don’t know that much about american history (well, now I do).This is specifically set during the times of japanese internment.
Series: Inky Legacy AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551823
Kudos: 7





	Joey Drew Studios, 1942

“Mr. Drew?”

"Yes, to what do I owe the pleasure officers?“ 

"We are searching for one of your employees, a certain Ichiro Morita. Have you seen him?" 

"Ichiro Morita?” The tall man seemed completely disconcerned, tapping his chin in thought. “Morita, Morita…" 

"Mr. Drew, we don’t have all day. An elderly japanese man, as far as we know the only one working here." 

"Ah! Now I remember! You’ll have to excuse me, I run a quite big studio here, I cannot possibly remember every single one of my workers.” He attempted an easy smile, though it quickly fell at the dark glares the cops gave him. “One of our musicians, though lately he has been making some trouble. He hasn’t come into work for nearly two weeks, I was just on my way to the head of our music department to get Mr. Morita fired for this. Anything else you’d like to kno-”

A short shuffle, a flurry of motion, then everything froze. One of the two cops had grabbed Mr. Drew by the collar of his suit, standing on his tiptoes in order to glare up at the tall man. “If we find out you _lied_ to us, Mr. Drew…”

“Whyever would I do that? You really think I would help the japanese, in times like these?” Joey Drew was completely unfazed by the threat, barely even pulled forward by the pull of the other.

“We’ve heard about the likes of your.. company. Hiring blacks, jews, asians. Being a bit of a _sympathizer_ , aren’t we?”

“An _opportunist_ , more likely.” Straightening up to his full height and forcing the cop to let go of him, he made a sweeping gesture to the halls around them. “These desperate people are the cheapest workers one can get! I don’t have to give them many breaks, can make them do longer hours, and all for a meager little pay! This is not _sympathy_ , this is _business_. This is how it is done in our country! So how about you get back to collecting that runaway japanese and I focus on running a successful company, hm?”

A beat of silence, two sets of eyes glaring up at one. “Alright… Hopefully we won’t have to see you around all too soon again, Mr. Drew. And if that japanese man does show up here…” the one who had not spoken much until now conceded, motioning for his colleague to leave.

“I will of course do my duty as an upstanding american citizen and immediately report him. Have a good day, officers.”

“To you too, Mr. Drew.”

He did not move until the studio’s door fell shut behind their uniformed backs, and even then only untensed a minimal bit. Eyes focused on the exit, until approaching footsteps caught his attention instead.

“Ah! Mr. Drew! I didn’t expect to see you here, if you’ll excuse me-” The short, nervous woman tries to turn on her heels and return the way she came, hoping she had not disturbed her boss.

“..Miss Pendle, wait.” She instantly froze, and slowly turned back around.

“Y-yes? What is it, sir?” Wary eyes watched Joey walk a little closer to her. 

“You are… korean, right?" 

”…Yes. Why?“

He glances at her suddenly tense posture, squared shoulders. Another step closer, voice dropping into a whisper. "Times are harsh, Miss Pendle. Especially for people like you." 

"With all due respect, Mr. Drew, I’m more than aware of this.”

“I did not expect anything else. But Miss Pendle… If anybody ever gives you trouble here in the studio, I want you to instantly report it to me. And if things get even worse out there, come to me as well. This studio is a big place, with many twisting and winding hallways. Quite hard to find people in here that do not want to be found.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, incredulous. “So you’re saying… Morita-san-”

“I’m not saying _anything_ , of course. But nobody knows this studio better than I do, especially not anybody from outside.”

Allison searched his face, only slowly nodding after she apparently found what she had looked for. “Okay. I’ll keep it in mind, Mr. Drew. Now then, I believe Mr. Lawrence is waiting for me in the music department..”

“Of course, of course. Have a good day, Miss Pendle!” Unlike with the policemen, this time his voice held almost a hint of warmth in it, a sliver of genuinity.

“You too, Mr. Drew.” They parted ways, Allison continuing down the hallway to the music department, and Joey… after one last glance at the front door, he made his way to the elevator, heading much deeper down into the studio. He should probably pay the safehouse a little visit, inform his guest about the earlier unpleasant encounter.

**Author's Note:**

> For more of my art and writing for this au visit my tumblr: https://inkylegacy.tumblr.com/


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